Leah Goldstein Moses, Founder & CEO

The Improve Group

Leah Goldstein Moses is an expert in evaluation and strategic planning and management. She began her professional career as program manager of a grant-funded program, and has worked extensively with nonprofit and public agencies to use data to help programs and people reach their full potential. In over a decade of work with nonprofit organizations, Leah has developed a number of tools that are applicable across fields and disciplines. Over the years, she has specialized in finding creative ways to answer questions. For example, when a neighborhood organization wanted to find new ways to engage their community, Leah suggested a “convenience sampling” approach – pick a few nice afternoons when people would be out running errands and at the park, and approach every fifth person with three short questions about community involvement. When staff of a local high school were resistant to evaluation because they associated it with performance measurement, Leah engaged them in brainstorming their biggest questions about their own performance – what they would like answers to when planning services. When another regional organization worried that they weren’t getting the message out about all of the great work they do, Leah suggested that they take one great finding from their evaluation and have every staff person attach that fact to their email signature – reaching thousands of people every day with their message.

Since 2000, Leah has worked on over 100 evaluations, strategic plans and original research projects. She has worked with small school districts in rural Minnesota, large urban organizations like the Minneapolis Urban League, and a number of nonprofit and public agencies. She most enjoys helping organizations internalize strategic and data-driven processes. She has expertise in evaluation and research design, facilitation and helping organizations use information for planning. She came to the field from a background in program management at a time when both grant- and formula-funded programs were increasingly asked to demonstrate results. Leah has conducted numerous multi-site evaluations related to education and social services and has a history of skilled project management. She produces timely, creative and innovative products for clients that directly address their needs and lead to improvements in program delivery. Using a variety of research-based evaluation methods and drawing on experiences with previous clients, she individualizes her response to the needs of each project. Leah oversees the Improve Group’s three project directors and the fifteen projects they manage. She is frequently consulted as a trainer on program management and evaluation.